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by Nancy Jensen
Drawing upon a long-suppressed episode in American history, when thousands of German immigrants were rounded up and interned following the attack on Pearl Harbor, In Our Midst tells the story of one family's fight to cling to the ideals of freedom and opportunity that brought them to America.
Nina and Otto Aust, along with their teenage sons, feel the foundation of their American lives crumbling when, in the middle of the annual St. Nikolas Day celebration in the Aust Family Restaurant, their most loyal customers, one after another, turn their faces away and leave without a word. The next morning, two FBI agents seize Nina by order of the president, and the restaurant is ransacked in a search for evidence of German collusion.
Ripped from their sons and from each other, Nina and Otto are forced to weigh increasingly bitter choices to stay together and stay alive. Recalling a forgotten chapter in history, In Our Midst illuminates a nation gripped by suspicion, fear, and hatred strong enough to threaten all bonds of love—for friends, family, community, and country.
About the In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen Discussion category
Join us in our book club discussion of In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen.
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In Our Midst also deals with the idea of "the kindness of strangers." Can you think of specific examples, small and large, of that motif in your own life? Should strangers be regarded as enemies or new friends?
In Our Midst also deals with the idea of "the kindness of strangers." Can you think of specific examples, small and large, of that motif in your own life? Should strangers be regarded as enemies or new friends?
-kim.kovacs
Overall, what did you think of In Our Midst? (no spoilers, please!)
Overall, what did you think of In Our Midst ? (no spoilers, please!)
-kim.kovacs
Which of the characters in In Our Midst do you consider the most American, according to your definition of fundamental American values?
Which of the characters in In Our Midst do you consider the most American, according to your definition of fundamental American values?
-kim.kovacs
What audience would you recommend In Our Midst to? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
What audience would you recommend In Our Midst to? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
-kim.kovacs
One of the ideas central to In Our Midst is family love and loyalty. In what ways do members of the Aust family make sacrifices for one another?
One of the ideas central to In Our Midst is family love and loyalty. In what ways do members of the Aust family make sacrifices for one another?
-kim.kovacs
How did you feel as you read about conditions in the internment camps? Prior to reading this book, were you aware of the internment of German- and Italian-Americans during WWII?
How did you feel as you read about conditions in the internment camps? Prior to reading this book, were you aware of the internment of German- and Italian-Americans during WWII?
-kim.kovacs
Mr. Griffin says, “When people are afraid, they’ll hand over their rights as willingly as they’d hand over pennies for bread. But not until they’ve handed over other people’s rights first.” What was your reaction to that passage?
Mr. Griffin says, "When people are afraid, they'll hand over their rights as willingly as they'd hand over pennies for bread. But not until they've handed over other people's rights first." What was your reaction to that passage? Can you think of other times in our history that the "systemic repr...
-kim.kovacs
Would you have made the same choice Nina did, joining your family in an internment camp? If you had been the one arrested and placed in an internment camp, would you have urged your spouse to join you?
Would you have made the same choice Nina did, joining your family in an internment camp? If you had been the one arrested and placed in an internment camp, would you have urged your spouse to join you?
-kim.kovacs
What do you think motivated Mr. Beale and Mr. Griffin to help the Austs?
What do you think motivated Mr. Beale and Mr. Griffin to help the Austs?
-kim.kovacs
Once incarcerated, Otto wants to keep busy and do as he’s ordered while Kurt wants to fight the system. Do you feel age plays a role or are their actions more related to their personalities? What would you have done in their place?
Once incarcerated, Otto wants to keep busy and do as he's ordered while Kurt wants to fight the system. Do you feel age plays a role or are their actions more related to their personalities? What would you have done in their place?
-kim.kovacs
The young men in the story – Hugh, Gerhard and Kurt – are pressured to enlist. What did you think of their decisions? Do you think their families’ situations would have changed had they made different choices?
The young men in the story – Hugh, Gerhard and Kurt – are pressured to enlist. What did you think of their decisions? Do you think their families' situations would have changed had they made different choices?
-kim.kovacs
Johan asks Otto, “What country at war cares for principles?” Do you believe war justifies compromising a country’s principles? In what ways do you think the USA’s wartime actions would be different if war broke out today, and in what ways the same?
Johan asks Otto, "What country at war cares for principles?" Do you believe war justifies compromising a country's principles? In what ways do you think the USA's wartime actions would be different if war broke out today, and in what ways the same?
-kim.kovacs
Nina recalls an exchange with an African-American family outside the restaurant that she comes to realize was misinterpreted and, therefore, accepted by her patrons. What do these experiences communicate about American values during the early 1940s?
Throughout history, societies have identified "insiders" and "outsiders." As she experiences life under the label of an "enemy alien," Nina recalls an exchange with an African-American family outside the restaurant that she comes to realize was misinterpreted and, therefore, accepted by her patro...
-kim.kovacs
How would you describe Nina and Otto's relationship as a couple and their relationship with each of their sons at the beginning of the story? How do those relationships change through the course of the story?
How would you describe Nina and Otto's relationship as a couple and their relationship with each of their sons at the beginning of the story? How do those relationships change through the course of the story?
-kim.kovacs
The boys who beat Hugh are newly enlisted "good" Americans, and the men who torture Gerhard are Nazis. How are their actions and underlying motivations the same and how are they different?
The boys who beat Hugh are newly enlisted "good" Americans, and the men who torture Gerhard are Nazis. How are their actions and underlying motivations the same and how are they different?
-kim.kovacs
Otto consciously rejects initiating the process to attain US citizenship. If you're a US citizen, how did that make you feel? If you're an immigrant who has attained citizenship or is in the process of obtaining it, how did you feel about his decision?
Otto consciously rejects initiating the process to attain US citizenship. If you're a US citizen, how did that make you feel? If you're an immigrant who has attained citizenship or is in the process of obtaining it, how did you feel about his decision?
-kim.kovacs
Were there some characters about whom you felt strongly? Ones whom you sometimes liked, sometimes disliked? Why might a fiction writer want to avoid creating characters who are either "saints" or "sinners"?
Were there some characters about whom you felt strongly? Ones whom you sometimes liked, sometimes disliked? Why might a fiction writer want to avoid creating characters who are either "saints" or "sinners"?
-kim.kovacs
Music, singing, and the power of lyrics to connect to or express deep emotion recur throughout the story. Which of these moments made the strongest impression on you? Are there songs or poems that deeply affect you?
Music, singing, and the power of lyrics to connect to or express deep emotion recur throughout the story. Which of these moments made the strongest impression on you? Are there songs or poems that deeply connect you to key moments in your life, to your sense of beauty, or to your feelings about y...
-kim.kovacs
What kind of future do you envision for each member of the Aust family? Do you have an opinion about how each of their lives might play out?
What kind of future do you envision for each member of the Aust family? Do you have an opinion about how each of their lives might play out?
-kim.kovacs
Is there a quote or a scene in the novel that stood out? Why do you think it resonated with you?
Is there a quote or a scene in the novel that stood out? Why do you think it resonated with you?
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (11/14/2024)
I finished up In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen for the BookBrowse book club. It's about a German family in the United States as WWII breaks out. Great historical fiction! I started The Love Elixir...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (11/07/2024)
...nished Alan Hollinghurst's Our Evenings. Really exceptional book - which makes it hard to move on. Fortunately my next book is completely different - In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen. It's historical fiction, about a German family in the US during WWII. I'm only a few pages in but so far, so good. I'm still listening to Book 3 of...
-kim.kovacs
"Good people suffer terrible injustices when war reasserts tribal loyalties....A sad, and sadly still relevant, history lesson in fictional form." —Kirkus Reviews
"Touching...Jensen admirably pulls off the balancing act between an emotionally gripping narrative and adherence to historical facts...Jensen's satisfying fictional account of a lesser-known chapter of U.S. history resonates chillingly with today's headlines." —Publishers Weekly
"A thoroughly researched work of truth-telling, In Our Midst shines the light of 'liberty and justice' on our history and reveals another horror that must be acknowledged. Jensen knows how to transport the reader into the domestic side of WWII; through taste and touch, sight and sound, we are there. From joy and delight to despair and horror, every character struggles to create and sustain their unique authenticity. To survive, each character must learn to blend aspirations with realities." —Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits
This information about In Our Midst was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nancy Jensen's bestselling novel The Sisters was selected by the Independent Booksellers Association as a #1 Indie Next Pick, and included by Kirkus Reviews on its list for Best Fiction of 2011. She has been awarded an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and an Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. Her first book, Window: Stories and Essays, was published by Fleur-de-Lis Press in 2009. She teaches in the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University and shares her home with five rescued cats.
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